​Papermaking Research on Artist John BabcockLizzy Taber As an emerging papermaker, I find inspiration the most in papermakers who are utilizing paper in a unique way. When looking at artists work online I was in particularly drawn to John Babcock’s work. John Babcock is a California based artist who focuses mainly on paper as his medium. Babcock has shown in over thirty museums in Europe, the US, and Japan.

Babcock uses large scale and small scale works to evoke emotional responses and focuses mainly on color. I was so intrigued by his work I sent him some questions about his technical process and his conceptual process. I’ve included some images from his website but all of the in process shots were photos he sent me in the interview. Anything in quotes are direct responses that I have included from the interview.

The above image is a work that caught my eye. I was particularly drawn to the cut out negative space within the paper because of it’s repeated pattern and mostly because of the cast shadows behind it.

This is what John Babcock had to say about it when I inquired how it was made.;“Kozo pulp, beaten by hand, two masters, blue and green. made thin by massaging pulp into a water bath see photo below.”

finished kozo sheets ready to be adhered to mylar.

Below: spirit wave image cut on vinyl cutter.

Many of Johns concepts are really interesting to me. He focuses on a wide variety of ideas throughout his work- but still manages to keep his entire body of work cohesive visually. Some concepts he touches on are expressing ideas of love, commemorations, animals, spirituality, and many more.

I was interested in his process of executing ideas. I wanted to know if he went into his studio with a specific concept in mind or if he let the highly technical process of papermaking guide his inspiration.

This was his response;

“I am a builder. I work with the pulp as a sculptor manipulating the fiber into place. Since I have many techniques of working over a span of 40 years, it is difficult to generalize “this is how I work”. Color Rules. Color is my first decision. Size is next. Sometimes I will sketch out patterns. For commissioned work I might even make up a maquette with collaged papers. Sometimes my concept isn’t clear at all. If it isn’t, I might start making pulp, pigment the pulp and start mixing the colors. In that process of getting involved with the material, usually ideas start to emerge and the ides of form evolve. If I want to make a work based on feeling, I will visualize the feeling with colors in mind.”

I then asked how his process has developed throughout his career;

“The process has developed because I have a lot more tools and techniques available. We didn’t know much about structure of paper fiber when I started. In the nineteen seventies my cotton came from linters mixed in a washing machine or very lightly beaten in a hollander. The pulp when spread out on a large plastic surface invited manipulation. In the archive click on “statement” in Faults and Fissures http://www.babcockart.com/faults-fissures/

When abaca was introduced to paper artists in the very early eighties I discovered a translucent shiny fiber that transmitted light differently. I was fascinated that by working cotton and abaca side by side I could make the abaca match or contrast with the cotton thus developing hidden images and color fields that changed as the viewer changed position or as the light changed during the day. http://www.babcockart.com/collage/”​

​FREE CASTING

John works with a lot of free casting. One of his bodies of work I am inspired by is his Ladder series.

“ The ladder has a special significance for me. It is a path to higher ground or a higher plain. I have climbed ladders all my life both physically and metaphysically, as perhaps you have. In this series I have enjoyed exploring the chemistry of color and the color of aspiration.” – John Babcock

“I mix 15 gallons of a master color pulp. I will make from 2-4 master batches. from 30 - 60 gallons. I intermix these pulps to make a gradation in 10-20 buckets five gallon buckets partially full. I call this building the color and it will take a few days to get the blending correct to my eye. I will then repeat the process for abaca.

Free Cast: I concentrate the pulp like cottage cheese and place it on a waxed plastic surface and manipulate the pulp about a ¼” thick to the desired shape. I can make sharp edges if I want. I work blind. Face side is down. 1991 late ladder series photo below.”

“April 2000 Soquel StudioThe cotton fiber is in place, abaca pulp will be placed in and over the top of the cotton to hold it all together, working blind.

So “free cast pulp” is casting without a mold.”

​

​Some more of John Babcock’s free casted paper; (my favorite series)

​Perceptor 1984 71” x 56” Perceptor is a spirit piece that for me is an overlord of the gallery space it lives in. It was one of the first explorations of a changing color and fiber gradation, which creates a shifting pattern from different views.

free-cast cotton and abaca fiber pigmented in the pulp

Messenger 1984 44”x 112”Secret messages within. The tiles are made from from varying combinations of abaca and cotton pulp creating subtle patterns that are only seen in a certain light.free-cast cotton and abaca fiber paper

​Lastly, a sculptural piece that I find very interesting – which was inspired by Arizona;

​Faulted Arch 1979 16”x 16”x 32”This is one of a series of sculptural works dealing with topography and landscape. It is about what we don’t see usually, but get to see for instance, when visiting an Arizona canyon where erosion gives us a glimpse of times past. Collection : International Paper Company. Exhibited in “Paper/Art – A Survey of the Work of Fifteen Northern California Paper Artists” at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento CA. January, 1981

sheets of laminated earth pigmented cotton fiber paper

Anthony Mead

4/14/2017 12:47:17 pm

John's work is really beautiful. The part where he was using the vinyl cutter to cut his paper got my mind working as someone who uses digital outputs a lot in my own work. This would be a great way to get a cut mark without the burn of the laser. It was also really great to hear how he thinks about making work, the process of being informed or informing his practice. Its always fascinating to learn how another artist goes about the creative process.

Kelsey

4/17/2017 01:20:02 pm

It's really interesting to hear about his process. I like how he mentioned how he finds inspiration through working with the materials and how his work is based on his emotions. It is interesting to me how different artists approach their work differently: some intuitively and some based on research.

Jonathan

4/18/2017 09:42:14 am

Its interesting how he works on large scale, and his colors a very vibrant and when he said he works blind to get the masterpieces was really what stuck with me.

Erin Thomas

4/18/2017 05:08:49 pm

His work is incredible, the process photos are even so good. While reading this, I think of how wild it is, and how beautiful art like this easily goes unnoticed because of how simple it appears as an end product. It is the process that really defines work like paper making and even printmaking. These practices both require tremendous calculation and attention to detail, which I really love about the processes.